


Life's Accidents

by ThatCunningSlytherin



Series: My Fire Emblem Canon (one-shots) [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Friends to Lovers, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 05:47:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20989838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatCunningSlytherin/pseuds/ThatCunningSlytherin
Summary: Gilbert muses on his affair with Catherine and the weight it adds to his soul, Catherine muses on her affair with Gilbert and the weight it adds to her heart, and Linhardt muses on Thunderbrand and how he can convince Catherine to let him use it.





	Life's Accidents

The first time might have been called an accident, they had sparred and fought for hours together, sword and lance crashing off each other with clangs like thunder. Their blood was pounding in their ears, adrenaline sharpening every sense, alone in the training room Gilbert had pulled Catherine close and they had kissed. They kissed, devouring each other’s mouths, _it had been so long,_ they kissed and stripped and fucked on all fours like animals, crying out at the moment of blind pleasure each other's true names.

It might have been called an accident, but Gilbert felt the guilt every time he saw Annette the next day, and it seemed the goddess decree that he saw her more than normal that next day. Gilbert still loved his wife greatly, he missed her most every day, he had only left her as he had not wanted the shame of his failure to save King Lambert to affect her. He needed to cleanse his soul, and for the last five years he had done so, five years of piety, and one night’s mistake and he felt dirty all over again.

It might have been called an accident, but he wanted to do it again. He wanted to hear that lovely young warrior moaning under him, she never did anything quietly. He wanted that feeling of a tight wet cunt gripping his cock, _it really had been too long_, as he thrust in and out of her. Gilbert did not love Catherine, nor did he think he ever would, but he wanted her, _Goddess help him he wanted her_.

If the first time was an accident the second time might have been called a relapse. They had trained together since that night, but never without someone else present, she acted no differently towards him, nothing could shake that rock of a person. A month later saw the murder of Knight-Captain Jeralt, the loss of the legend had weighed heavily on everyone, the knights of Seiros got together to toast his memory, those who knew him sharing stories, tales of valor and debauchery. Afterword’s Catherine and Gilbert engaged in some debauchery of their own; she thanked him afterward dressing and leaving soon as she regained her breath.

There was no way to call their third time a relapse, five years after the second, after returning to Garreg Mach, after finding their king, after knocking on her door. She asked about his wife when he got up to leave.

“Will you go back to her when the war is done?” she had her head on her hand, propped on her elbow, the thin white sheet covering her, falling below her breasts. “When your supposed debt to Lambert is fulfilled?”

“I do not know,” he admitted slipping his cassock over himself. “I would like to I suppose; it has been so long I do not know if she would take me back.”

Catherine nodded, pulling the sheet up to cover herself and laying back on the bed as he left the room. She was incredible, nothing seemed to phase her, but he was happy to know that she knew that there was nothing serious about their affair.

**

The first time might have called an accident, he had recently regained warrior spirit and the two had engaged in fierce sparring before throwing down their weapons and engaging in even fiercer lovemaking. While he was still a fine-looking man, he was married, to a wife he had abandoned sure, but Catherine was no fool. She had seen other knights throw their hearts away waiting for someone to leave their partner and commit to them, she was not one of those men or women, she was Thunderbrand Catherine and her heart could be like stone.

The second time might have been called a relapse, had she not been looking forward to it so much. She had not expected it, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement not to be alone together after that first night. Then after Captain Jeralt died they joined the rest of the knights in celebrating his memory, after everyone, including a weeping Alois, departed they found themselves alone again. They had ended up in his room, neither had known Jeralt that well but aware of the sense of loss that filled the monastery, they worked it out of their systems in his bed.

She found herself becoming attached to the stoic man, she thanked him when she left his room, not knowing what else to say fearing what she would say if she stayed. Catherine had had other lovers since Christophe but none had ever known who she had been before joining the knights. Gilbert knew Cassandra, and she knew the real him, she knew Gustave. Thinking like that was dangerous, and she had too much to do to, so much Lady Rhea needed her to do.

Three months passed and they did not find the time to breathe let alone sleep together, then Lady Rhea disappeared and it was five years before they saw each other again. Five years to let go of any memory of how Gilbert made her feel when they were together, to satisfy herself with the vague way they left things knowing he might be back with his wife in Faerghus. That is until he knocked on her door, until he came to her, until he kissed her like that, after five years apart.

When they were done he got up to leave, she wanted to just let him go, leave things vague, but she was too sensible for that. She needed to know where they stood, she needed to know what she was; what she was, was a side dish, a sampler while he waited to return to his wife. Catherine was too strong of a person to settle for that, she was nobody’s second choice, she was one of the greatest knights alive, she was eager to be with him again. When he was gone, she stood and threw strategy books, bottles of ink, and a tacky vase Alois had gotten her for her birthday years ago. 

She vowed not to have it happen again, she threw herself into her training, she tracked down leads trying to find Lady Rhea, she spread her legs for him at the next possible chance. Gilbert never mentioned his wife to her and she never asked again, they made love and then went their separate ways. It was toxic, a poison that was slowly eating away at her, she needed to talk to someone, but was short on options. 

Shamir would just try to solve her problem by shooting an arrow through Gilber; while the idea had its merits she would never feel satisfied if she did not end it herself. Asking for Alois for advice on her affair was laughable too, he would just sputter wide-eyed at the thought that Gilbert would cheat on his wife while the two were apart, he was far too innocent, far too pure, in those matters. Seteth would admonish both of them for fooling around when they should be focusing on winning the war and finding Rhea, Manuela would encourage her to stay with Gilbert '_Why waste a good man?'_, and Hanneman was good friends with Gilbert, she wouldn’t talk to him. She needed someone impassive, a friend who would not resort to violence, or that was close to Gilbert, someone logical. That someone came, he came in the strange and unlikely form of asking to use her Thunderbrand.

Linhardt was an inquisitive smart man, he was brave in his own way, wanting to use Thunderbrand for the sake of his research even if that meant risking his own life. He was a cat, always sleeping, appearing lazy whenever you saw him, but when he caught a scent; when he found something he wanted to research, he pounced. He told Catherine he wanted to be with her, do “research together” he said, despite his youth, despite his apparent lack of duty, despite Gilbert’s bright blue eyes, she wanted to be with him too. 

**

When Catherine told him that she did not want to continue seeing each other anymore Gilbert was hurt but understood. What they had while enjoyable was meaningless, it was only natural that a woman of her youth might want to move on and find a real relationship with someone she could care about. Besides now that they had conquered Fhirdiad and Dimitri had accepted his role as king Gilbert felt cleansed of what happened at Duscur, now he needed to cleanse his soul of his affair and return to his wife. He and Annette had reconnected and now he felt sure his wife would welcome him back as well.

When they found a weakened Rhea in the bowels of Enbarr the long lost Archbishop was too weak to resume control of the Church of Seiros. She went into seclusion with Catherine and a green-haired classmate of Annette’s. The boy was a powerful mage but Gilbert could not be certain of why he would want to accompany the two women; until he and Catherine wed the day before they all departed the monastery.

He did not see them for ten years until a battle near the Red Canyon made Gilbert and some other Kingdom Knight who had known the Archbishop and Catherine want to ensure the pair were not harmed by the rampaging beasts. They found them safe, the boy, Linhardt now truely a man, having used an invention of his own to shield the area and keep the residents secure. Catherine was beautiful as ever and her nine-year-old son stared wide-eyed at all the soldiers that had fought in the war with his parents. A skinny thing with bright blue eyes and red hair.

The sight of him made Gilbert want to clutch at his chest. He tried to get Catherine alone, to demand answers but way waylaid by Linhardt.

**

Linhardt was not a man prone to passions, but he had to admit the first time he saw Catherine wielding Thurderbrand, his first glimpse of one of the legendary hero’s relics in action, it was stunning. He wanted to study it, to know how its power worked. He bore a crest, it shouldn’t prove to be much of a danger to him to try it…just once.

I took time to convince Catherine to let him handle the weapon, almost six years when he thought on it. During that time he learned much about her, just by watching, people unappreciated how much you could learn by slowing down and watching the people around them. For example, watching Seteth Linhardt learned that he had fought in many battles, his style suggested he was old, far older than he appeared in any case. By watching Alois he knew that the man used his humor to hide the deeper pain of killing. By watching Catherine he could tell she was a woman in love, and most frustrated by it.

Her frustration was probably because her lover was married and didn’t love her back, people could be so confusing. Why anyone would go through all the physical exhaustion of having sex with someone you didn't love or when you were not trying to reproduce? Regardless her form was impeccable despite her emotional distractions, Linhardt wondered how she would fight if she was not fighting herself internally. Though she could be exhausting at times, so full of energy, so loud, he found that he was not opposed to her.

She reminded Linhardt of a female Caspar, a blonde-haired blue-eyed, Caspar…wait, did Caspar have blue eyes too? He wasn’t sure, but hers most definitely were, blue and full of fire, the hottest fires always burned blue. He enjoyed her company, they would talk while she trained and she never pressured him to train too, she just talked to him. They talked about crests, they talked about their comrades, and strange fish in the pond, sometimes he would bring her rose petal tea and she wouldn't train at all.

One day he finally admitted to her that he would like them to be together, he told her he wanted her to work with him, forever. She agreed and broke things off with Gilbert for good the next day, a month later they rescued Rhea, and a month after that they married. They moved to Zanado, the Red Canyon where Rhea could rest and heal, and Linhardt focused himself on his crest research. Six months after their wedding Catherine gave birth to a healthy baby boy that could not possibly be related to him. 

The four of them lived alone happy together alone, for years unbothered by the outside world and Linhardt created much, free of the pressures and distractions of the outside world. Their peace was interrupted by none other than Gilbert and an army of Kingdom soldiers worried about a threat that had never posed any danger to them. Gilbert, not a fool in all manners, recognized Jules for what he was and went to talk with Catherine.

“That isn’t necessary,” Lindhardt said stepping in front of the old soldier.

“Out of the way boy,” he said gruffly. “I need to speak to Catherine.”

“I do not believe there is anything you two need to talk about.”

“The boy,” Gilbert muttered staring as a soldier showed the boy how to hold a shield while Catherine stood behind him protectively and Rhea watched on fondly.

“The _boy_ is named Jules, and he is _my_ son,” Linhardt said, staring Gilbert with a ferocity he had not had before becoming a father. “Our reality is made up of our choices, you made a choice when you chose to go back to your wife and Catherine made a choice when she married me.”

“But he…”

“I suggest you take your men and leave, as you can see we are all fine here, your services are not needed.”

“Now listen…”

“No,” said Linhardt stepping close to the taller man. “You listen, take your men and leave; before I make my choice.”

With a last glare that he had not possessed in his youth Linhardt turned and walked over to his family, his son waving, wanting his father to see how the shield could stop a sword.

**

Catherine watched wearily as Linhardt walked away from a stunned Gilbert, ruffling their son's hair as the boy tried to explain the functionality of the shield to his father. She heard Gilbert as he called for formation, the soldiers were to head back to Fhirdiad, immediately. The men and women bowed to Rhea as they left and some waved to Catherine too as they began the long march out of the canyon.

“Father,” Jules said looking up to Linhardt. “Could I be a soldier when I grow up?”

“I suppose,” Linhardt said wearily. “I do not know why you would want to bother though, it is so much work.”

Catherine nudged Linhardt in the side and he gave a sleepy grin at her.

“Come, Jules,” Linhardt continued. “All these people have worn out Rhea, and me as well, let’s grab our rods and see if the fish are biting, see what we can catch for dinner.”

As the two walked off Catherine watched them fondly.

"What are you thinking, child?" Rhea asked indeed sounding exhausted after the brief visit.

"I am wondering how many of life's accidents are really just part of the Goddess' plan."

"Oh sweet child," Rhea said with a weary smile. "There are no such things as accidents."


End file.
